


April Showers Bring May Flowers

by bluehearteyes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Florist!Dean, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Tattoo artist!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 23:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4037953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluehearteyes/pseuds/bluehearteyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean's new flower shop is definitely taking off, but will romance bloom too?</p>
            </blockquote>





	April Showers Bring May Flowers

The little bell above the door to Dean’s shop jingled, signaling a customer had just arrived. He stood up from where he’d been restocking the hydrangeas. He quickly made his way to the counter so as not to keep the client waiting. He put on his best businessman smile, hoping to make a sale. Once he saw who was there, however, it turned into a genuine smile.

“Missouri!” Dean said, happy to see her familiar smile.

“How are you, dear? Ah, why did I ask, I already know you’re doing great. Look at this fantastic store you’ve got here!” she beamed. “How long have you been open?”

“Just a few days, and I’ve already been swamped with orders,” Dean replied.

“I knew you would be, opening so close to June! It’s one of the most popular months for weddings, you know,” Missouri said.

“Well, that was the plan,” Dean laughed. Missouri was like a grandmother to him. After his parents had died, Missouri always made sure the he and his brother, Sam, were always well cared for. The brothers had moved in with their father’s friend Bobby, but visiting Missouri always felt like visiting home.

The bell jingled again, this time for someone actually looking to buy flowers.

“I’ll let you go, so you can take care of your customers. By the way, it’s always nice to try to make friends with your neighbors. You’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other,” Missouri said mysteriously. She hugged Dean goodbye and then she was gone, leaving Dean slightly puzzled over her advice. He hadn’t really paid attention to what was located next to his store. He glanced out the window on his right. He could see part of a sign, but he couldn’t make out the words. The sharp ding of the bell located on the counter pulled him from his thoughts. He rushed over, silently cursing himself for neglecting to help someone.

“Hi, can you help me pick out some flowers? It’s for a graduation,” the woman at the counter stated.

“Sure thing, ma’am,” Dean replied, all thoughts of neighboring stores forgotten temporarily.

*****

As Dean was locking up the store that night, he remembered Missouri’s words. He looked up at the adjacent building, finally able to read the sign. _Fallen Angel Tattoos_  was printed in big blue letters. “ _Great_ ,” Dean thought to himself. It wasn’t like he had anything against tattoos, as he had one himself. It was just that he knew the type of customers that had been coming into his shop the past few days hadn’t seemed like the most accepting people. He knew that, unfortunately, it was very easy to judge a book by its cover. Meaning, because of the location, his store may lose a few customers given the surrounding area and people. Dean sighed, and finished closing up. He figured he’d go introduce himself to the owner of the parlor tomorrow. Maybe they’d be pretty cool.

*****

Dean arrived at his store bright and early the next morning. He went inside to wait for the tattoo parlor next door to open, so he could introduce himself. He saw a car pull around to the back of the store, meaning the owner must be there. Dean grabbed a rose out of a vase, in case the owner happened to be a pretty girl. He locked the door behind him, since it wasn’t really time to open yet, and walked next door. He knocked on the glass door, and a minute later, a man came to open it.

“Hello. You must be the guy with the flower shop next door,” the man said.

“Uh, yeah,” Dean answered, eyes widening. He’d come prepared for a pretty girl, what he hadn’t come prepare for, however, was an extremely hot guy. He had on a short sleeved ACDC t-shirt, exposing his muscular arms, which were covered in bright ink. He was almost the same height as Dean, just a bit shorter, making eye contact easy. His eyes were like the ocean, a clear blue color that Dean was sure he could drown in. And his _smile_ , dammit, was just as gorgeous as the rest of him. When he smiled down at the rose in Dean’s hand with those perfect pink lips, Dean was sure he was going to faint on the spot.

“That for me?” he asked, laughing softly. “I’m flattered that you’re already bringing me nice things when you don’t even know my name.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I don’t know your name. Well, I’m Dean.”

“Castiel, though Cas is preferable. Nice to meet you, Dean. I hope to see you again,” Cas said, taking the rose from Dean’s outstretched hand.

“You too, Cas,” Dean replied, waving as he walked out the door.

Back at his store, Dean began preparing for the day’s customers. However, his mind was on things other than daisies and lilies. His mind was focused on blue eyes, a stunning smile, colorful tattoos, and the way that Cas sounded when he’d said Dean’s name. The only thing to causing him to jolt back to reality was, as always, the sound of the bell over the door. He went through the motions of helping the man pick out some flowers, recommending a few, and making the sale, without ever really thinking about what he was doing. Instead, he was focused on internally cursing himself for getting so flustered over a guy, while at the same time trying to come up with an excuse to talk to Cas again. There wasn’t much time to think, though, since as soon as he was finished helping one customer three more arrived. Dean sighed, though he was happy that the store had so far been a success. He pushed his thoughts of Cas to the side and flashed his businessman smile, hoping to sell something to everyone.

As business slowly slowed towards the end of the day, Dean allowed himself to think up every possible worst case scenario for the next time he spoke to Cas. On one hand, it could go very well. On the other, Cas could be married with three kids (though Dean hadn’t spotted a ring). He locked up the store, subtly glancing towards Cas’ shop to see if he happened to be outside as well. As it turned out, he could see Cas inside, hunched over someone’s arm, deep in concentration. Dean smiled as he turned away from the shop, glad that he’d met Cas. Missouri was right, he decided. He’d have to tell her (though it wouldn’t be a surprise to her, she was always right). Dean walked around back to where he’d parked his car when he heard a small noise. He looked around, but didn’t see anything. It wasn’t until he’d gotten in his car that he saw two little kittens on the step outside the tattoo parlor. He wished he had something to give them, but one, he was allergic, and two, he didn’t think that cats ate leftover pie from lunch. _“Maybe Cas will give them something,”_ he thought, driving away slowly so as not to scare them off.

Home at last, Dean opened a beer and turned on the tv. He sat on the couch, watching, but not really paying attention. _“Maybe,”_ he thought, _“Cas and I could just be friends. I don’t even know if swings that way, so there’s no point in hoping for something impossible.”_ Dean was trying to apply logic to the situation, and finally settled on being just friends with the guy. After all, he’d never even dated another man before, just silently admired from afar. So that was that, he’d become friends with Cas and spend every minute waging war on himself for wanting someone he probably couldn’t have.

*****

“Hello, Dean,” said a voice the next morning, as Dean was opening the shop. Startled, he spun around, causing his keys to go flying. “Nice throw!” the voice mocked. Dean, sure the he was out of danger, now recognized the voice as belonging to Cas. He stooped to pick up the keys, grimacing at himself. It was as though the guy had materialized, as Dean hadn’t seen him walk up behind him.

“Hey, Cas,” Dean muttered, embarrassed at his reaction.

“You’ve got a nice arm on you, huh? It’d look great with a new tattoo,” Cas smiled, elbowing him.

“Always the businessman, are you?” Dean laughed. “I may eventually take you up on that offer.”

“I’ll remember that, Dean-” Cas stopped. He squinted thoughtfully, then spoke again. “I don’t know your last name. You didn’t tell me yesterday, did you?”

“It’s Winchester. I don’t guess I know yours, either.”

“Novak. Anyways, as I was saying, I’m holding you to that Dean Winchester, By the way, my clients love the rose you gave me. They say it really classes up the place,” he smirked. “See you later, Dean.” He waved as he walked back to his own shop, and Dean saw the smallest smile creep onto his face.

Dean felt like he was walking on air. _Cas had kept the rose_. He smiled to himself, a slight blush spreading across his face. Cas had kept the rose. Of course, that didn’t really mean anything, but to Dean, it was a start. He pushed all thoughts of the morning’s events to the back of his mind though, determined today to actually be slightly helpful to customers. However, his plan was thrown a little off-course when Cas showed up mid-morning. He strolled in like he owned the place, and went straight up to the counter where Dean was. He leaned forward, resting his arms on the surface.

“Bet you weren’t expecting me,” he laughed. Sure, his tone was light, but with the way he was staring directly into Dean’s eyes he gave off an awkward, yet slightly murderous demeanor. He seemed like the type of person who loved any animal, especially the cuddly ones, but would viciously tear apart anyone who so much as looked at one the wrong way.

“Uh, nope. I wasn’t,” Dean said nervously. He shifted his gaze, uncomfortable with how intently Cas was staring.

“I was just wondering if you’d like to come to lunch with me. See, normally I bring something to work with me, I guess it just slipped my mind today. I must have been thinking about something else.” On “else”, Cas slid forward on the counter, closer to Dean.

“Cas… personal space.” Dean whispered.

“Sorry,” he apologized, moving backwards. “So, lunch?”

“Yeah, that sounds alright.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you back here. What time can you go?” Cas asked.

“Anytime after eleven thirty,” Dean replied.

“What about twelve? I don’t have any appointments then.”

“Sounds good. See ya later, Cas,” Dean waved, as Cas walked out the door, not quite as confidently as when he’d come in.

Twelve o’clock couldn’t come fast enough. Dean was somewhat nervous, but also trying to keep calm. He and Cas would become friends, but never progress past that. The clock slowly ticked forward, the hands finally falling on the twelve. Cas was right on time, pushing open the door and smiling slightly. Dean had left Garth in charge for the time being, silently praying everything would go smoothly. Of course he trusted Garth, although sometimes he could be a bit lax on monitoring everything that was going on. It was only for a short time, however, so he figured Garth could take care of things.

“Where are we going?” Dean asked.

“Not far. We’ll just walk there. It’s a local place. I promise there aren’t any roaches,” Cas grinned. They walked the rest of the way without speaking, just enjoying each other’s company. They arrived to a barbecue place a few minutes later, walking in and sitting in a booth. They ordered drinks and sandwiches, Dean deciding just to get whatever Cas did.

“So, what made you want to open a flower shop? Did you think it’d get you the ladies?” Cas asked, smirking.

“Nah, it’s just something I’ve always wanted. I don’t really know why. I mean, I remember when my mom was alive I would always help her in the garden. That’s how I knew school was almost out. Once she stocked up on pansies and lilacs, I knew there were only a few weeks left. I loved helping her plant the flowers. My brother, Sam, ‘helped’. I probably did most of the work, though,” Dean said, flashing a smug grin.

“Sorry about your mom. She sounded like a wonderful lady.”

“She was. Both of my parents died in a house fire. I’m alright, it was years ago. Sam and I moved in with our dad’s good friend, Bobby. That’s enough about my tragic backstory, let’s hear yours.”

“Well, it’s not very tragic, trust me. I was the rebel of the family, the black sheep. I did things I wasn’t supposed to do and I ended up here. My family is hardcore religious. I used to be, I just- I opened my eyes and saw that not everything they did was exactly holy. I lived based on what I thought was right, unfortunately they didn’t think the same way I did,” Cas rambled. “But, what’s done is done. I still talk to my siblings every so often. Same old questions, years later: ‘How are you? Have you done anything with your life yet? Found a girl?’ Same answers every time, too: ‘Fine’, ‘ugh’, and ‘never will’.”

“Hey, you run your own business, that’s something right? And you’ll find a nice girl one day!” Dean promised.

“Well, she may be the nicest girl to walk the Earth, but I’m not going to date her,” Cas sighed.

“What if she’s ‘the one’?” Dean asked.

“Since you’re not catching on like I’d hoped, I guess I’ll have to spell it out,” Cas drawled. “You see this curly fry?” he asked, picking up a fry from his plate.

“Yeah…” Dean answered.

“It’s probably straighter than I am,” Cas finished. “You get it now?”

“Oh. _Oh_ ,” Dean said, realization finally hitting him. Unfortunately, after realization came panic mode. Dean stared wide-eyed, not entirely sure what to say. He wanted to tell Cas that he wasn’t exactly straight either, but Dean wasn’t even for sure _what_ he was. He liked girls, he definitely enjoyed sex with women, so that meant he was straight, right? The way Dean saw things was black and white: you were either straight or gay, there was nothing else, as far as Dean knew. So he kept his mouth shut- for the rest of the lunch. On the way back to the shop, he walked slightly behind Cas, flustered and embarrassed and scared. He honestly didn’t know what he was feeling anymore. It had been awhile since he’d had a good friend, and he didn’t want to ruin that. Maybe Cas didn’t even like him, and he was just telling Dean that because it was part of his story.

“Bye, Dean,” Cas mumbled, sensing something was off. He walked away with head bowed, staring at the ground.

Dean walked into his shop, feeling extremely guilty. He hadn’t meant to upset Cas (which he seemed pretty upset), he just froze.

“Hey, Dean, how’d the lunch go? Make a new friend?” Garth called, poking his head over the magazine he was reading.

“No,” Dean spat. _“Great. Now I’m going to push Garth away, too,”_ he thought.

“Hey, no need to get all bent out of shape. So it didn’t go well. What can you do?” Garth shrugged.

“Thanks, Garth,” Dean murmured. “I can take over now, you go ahead and go home early. I can manage everything for the afternoon.”

“Thanks, boss,” Garth said, waving as he left.

The rest of the dragged by slowly.  He made a few sales, nothing too spectacular. Around three, an elderly lady came in to pick up an order. Dean was going to help her load the flowers into her car, since they were quite heavy. He picked up the vase and made his way to her fancy Cadillac.

“You can just put them in the backseat,” she told him.

“Alright, ma’am,” Dean said, placing the vase gently in the back floor of the vehicle. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“You can find a new store, for one. Why would you ever buy a place next to a dump like that?” she scoffed, pointing at Cas’ shop.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, it was all I could afford.” Dean shifted uncomfortably, wanting to defend Cas but not wanting to anger the lady. She didn’t seem like the type you’d want to disagree with.

“Frankly it’s an eyesore, and I’m sure you’d get much more business if you were located elsewhere. Besides, that guy over there looks sketchy. Are you sure you’re safe over here?”

Dean looked in the direction she was pointing. Much to his dismay, Cas was standing right outside the door, having just heard their entire conversation. He clenched his jaw and turned swiftly around, slamming the door behind him.

“Have a good day, miss,” Dean mumbled, a lump forming in his throat. If Cas hadn’t hated Dean before, he definitely did now. He trudged back inside, deciding to call it quits for the day and lock up early. _“Way to go, Winchester, you successfully fucked up. Again.”_

*****

The next few days seemed to last years. Each morning Dean would wait until he knew for sure Cas was already in his shop. Each night he’d leave quickly, hoping the meowing kittens wouldn’t give him away. It was on the fourth day when he decided that things couldn’t continue like this. He was going to have to explain everything to Cas, and he meant everything. Although he was pretty sure if he even got within one hundred feet of they guy he’d be dead in less than a minute. As he was leaving the store that night, he came up with a genius (or at least he thought it was genius) idea. He quickly ran back inside, grabbed a rose, scribbled a note on a little card, and attached it to the rose. He left it on the back stoop with the noisy kittens and drove away, hoping for the best. The note had read “ _Please give me a second chance: 555-7384_ ”.

*****

The sound of his phone made Dean jump. He’d fallen asleep on the couch, binge watching Dr. Sexy. It took him a minute to realize what was going on. When he finally remembered the note, he leapt up, spilling the bag of chips he’d had in his lap. He searched the couch for his phone, eventually finding it stuffed between the cushions. He turned it on, anxious to see if Cas had called or texted.

“ _Is this some kind of sick joke? If you’re just going to belittle me and call my business an ‘eyesore’ and a ‘dump’, then I suggest you don’t respond to this. Ever._ ” read the text. So Cas didn’t respond quite as Dean had hoped. He didn’t really blame the guy, Dean knew he’d been a total asshole towards him. Unintentionally, but it had come off that way nonetheless. Dean quickly texted his response (‘ _please call me_ ’) and anxiously awaited the reply. He didn’t have to wait long, as his phone started ringing a minute later.

“What do you want, Dean?” Cas’ voice crackled on the other end of the line.

“I just want to explain something. Please, just hear me out. You have every right to be angry. You honestly have every right to hate me and to hang up on me, but please don’t. I want to tell you that I’m sorry for being a complete dick to you. I didn’t mean to respond that way. I just… didn’t know what to do,” Dean said, the words tumbling out quicker than he could process them.

“You could’ve been a supportive friend instead of reacting like you did,” Cas shot.

“I know, I- I couldn’t sort out my feelings fast enough. I’d gone into this lunch date telling myself over and over that we would become friends. _Just_ friends. I wouldn’t _let_ myself think anything beyond that. I couldn’t. For all I knew, you were straight as an arrow and I was a confused arrow with maybe a slight bend in it, and I’m making no sense right now, please say something so I know I’m not just rambling to myself.”

“Are you saying that you… you thought you had feelings for me?” Cas whispered.

“Well, I mean I barely knew you, but yes. I felt like I’d known you my whole life the instant I met you. I knew I wanted to become closer with you,” Dean finally admitted. It was then that he heard a small choked off sound from the phone. “Cas?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Cas said, swallowing thickly. “I just thought you were going to shut me out. I mean, it’s happened before. People find out I’m gay and I never hear from them again. It’s sickening. What made people become this way?”

“I don’t know Cas. And I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. And about that little old lady…”

“Hey, I was just trying to avoid being hit with her cane. There are some people you don’t disagree with and she was one of them. I should’ve stuck up for you though. You know I’ll always feel guilty for that. But uh… what about that second chance?” Dean asked, hope rising inside him.

“Yeah, I think you’ve earned it. Lunch tomorrow? I guess it can be our ‘second first date’, okay?” Cas said.

“I’d love to, Cas.”

*****

Epilogue

Nearly two years later, Dean finally decided to take Cas up on the offer he’d made when they’d first met. He sat down in the padded chair inside Cas’ tattoo parlor, left hand resting on the armrest to give Cas full access to it. Cas came out from the back, supplies in hand. He sat down next to the chair, taking Dean’s hand. He started the machine, tracing around Dean’s left ring finger.

“Dean Winchester, will you marry me?” Cas asked, looking up at Dean after he’d finished. Dean glanced down to admire Cas’ handiwork: a simple band around his finger. Sure, it wasn’t a traditional engagement ring, but they weren’t the traditional couple.

“Yes, Cas. Yes, I’ll marry you. I mean I can’t really back out now, can I? At least I’ll never have to worry about losing the ring,” Dean laughed. Cas just pulled him closer, shutting him up with a kiss. 


End file.
